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Mount Vernon must stop sewage spilling into Hutch, EPA says

Mount Vernon has been cited by both state and federal environmental authorities for problems with its stormwater management that violate the federal Clean Water Act. Fixing those problems is expected to cost nearly $800,000.

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Mount Vernon must stop sewage spilling into Hutch, EPA says

Ned P. Rauch, erauch@lohud.com 11:02 p.m. EDT June 24, 2014

The repairs could cost the city nearly $800,000

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These stormwater pipes in Mount Vernon have been spilling sewage into the Hutchinson River. Federal and state regulators have order the city to fix the problem.(Photo: Ned P. Rauch/The Journal News.)Buy Photo

MOUNT VERNON – Sewage: You know it when you smell it, and it's not hard to smell it at the north end of Farrell Avenue, where dense trees and brush stand between a residential neighborhood and the Hutchinson River.

It's there, just beyond the trees, that a pair of underground stormwater pipes open into the river, spilling rain, runoff and — according to residents as well as government regulators — sewage.

"Yesterday, you could smell it because it was so humid," resident Clarence Youngs, a retired school principal, said on Friday. "It's worse when it's humid."

Though the air was dry at the time Youngs spoke, it was tainted with the stench. At the river's edge, the odor was difficult to ignore. Youngs said he's endured the spillage into the river for years. Worse, he said, is when sewage occasionally backs up into his neighbors' homes.

Mount Vernon has been cited by both state and federal environmental authorities for problems with its stormwater management that violate the federal Clean Water Act. Fixing those problems is expected to cost nearly $800,000.

Many communities in the region are struggling to cope with aging infrastructure. But of the major cities in Westchester, none appear to face the kinds of stormwater woes vexing Mount Vernon, according to a review of recent and ongoing federal Environmental Protection Agency enforcement actions.

In 2009, the state Department of Environmental Conservation fined the city $100,000 for illicit stormwater discharges. The city paid a little more than half the fine; the balance was suspended.

But EPA records show sewage leaks — accidental or not — into the city's stormwater pipes are a chronic problem for Mount Vernon. The federal agency cited a pair of 2012 incidents that resulted in sewage discharges into both the Hutchinson and Bronx rivers. And in 2013, when the EPA tested the water flowing out of the pipes at Farrell Avenue and elsewhere in the city, it found amounts of fecal coliform that far exceeded safe, permitted levels.

"If there is sewage and it's getting into a system and discharging into a water body where people are fishing or swimming, that can pose a health risk," said Mary Mears, an EPA spokeswoman.

The Hutchinson River is rarely used for recreational purposes. Where navigable, its uses are largely industrial.

The city has been ordered to assess the extent of the problems and develop a plan to fix them, which will be costly. According to the EPA, finding a remedy and putting it in place could cost the city $769,000. Mount Vernon's annual budget is around $95 million.

Mayor Ernest Davis said the effort to develop a solution would begin "right away." And Councilman Rich Thomas, chairman of the City Council's public works committee, said Mount Vernon has hired a consultant to help it meet the EPA's requirements.

Still, he said, the city ought not to have allowed its infrastructure to deteriorate to the point that federal overseers are taking notice.

"I can't begin to express how frustrating and disappointing it is that the city hasn't been able to get its act together," Thomas said.

He said the city needs to be better about maintaining its infrastructure and planning for improvements.

"Let's find the other hotspots that cause sewage to back up into people's homes," he said.

The EPA's orders, likely to the disappointment of residents on Farrell Avenue, do not address the back-ups.